How to set up your new office and communicate more effectively with customers

Many of us know how great it can be to run a small business from home, or to work from home for a larger firm, there are just so many positives.

However, there are some specific challenges associated with working from home, not least the technical aspect of setting up a home office. In this article Paul Holden,sales director at software provider Ezy Solutions, looks at ways to set up a home office using the latest affordable technology.

In the past the communication technology used by firms was expensive and unwieldy; fortunately this is most certainly no longer the case. One of the main challenges faced by the home worker is effective communications with their prospects, customers and colleagues and in the running of an effective diary system so that appointments, customer calls and sales opportunities are never missed.

Doing it right first time

The main focus of this article is organisation and integration, by this I mean establishing a method by which you organise your diary, tasks, database of prospects and customers. It is essential that whatever system you adopt to achieve these goals is fully integrated. This means that all of the various hardware and software systems work with each other and that customer details only ever need to be input once and then populate all other parts of the system.

The requirement for single data entry is paramount when setting up a business from home in order to avoid the pain of entering a customer’s details into your database, only to enter the details again into your diary and then a third time into your mobile phone and so on. Not only does this involve repetition of the same tasks with the inherent danger of missing some vital bit of information such as a digit on a phone number, but often also leads to information being missed like a diary appointment or a repeat business opportunity because the info is in the wrong place.

What do I need to get started?

So now that we have established what we want to avoid, let us focus on the solutions to these everyday issues. I have listed the products and services that you should be considering:

  • A PC or laptop with Microsoft Windows and Office or the equivalent Open Office software
  • A mobile phone with links to the diary function on your PC e.g. Outlook or equivalent
  • A desk telephone with caller ID enabled
  • A multi function scanner, fax, printer, copier and or a free fax2email services for receiving faxes
  • Integrated customer database software.

Making it all fit together

Now that you have your new PC or laptop, you should install the software that is going to help you to run your business and to communicate with your customers. The software that you choose should be capable of listing your prospects and customers i.e. those individuals and companies that may be interested in your product or service as well as those that do go ahead and purchase from you.

The software should be integrated to a letter writing software such as Word, to a e-mail program – Outlook or Webmail - and to a spreadsheet software for financial and management information reporting. This software will effectively work for you in running your entire business and your workflow, and will link to you telephone, to your mobile phone and to your diary as well as to your printer scanner for letters and mailshots etc.

Who’s calling?

You can now buy a new phone device that plugs into your standard BT phone socket and into your PC; this device transmits the caller ID number from the phone line into the database on the PC so that your customers’ details pop up on the PC screen when the phone rings. You will also be able to click on a phone number in your database and dial out from the PC.

Phone calls can be recorded and saved to the customers’ file in the database. Call recording is essential for firms transacting business over the telephone, especially if credit card details are given to complete the sale of goods and services, the call recording keeps a permanent record of the conversation, essential in case your customer suddenly develops a case of selective amnesia!

All in one

The multi function scanner is a great product and gives you all the features that you need to print, fax, scan in documents and even copy important documents. Multifunction scanner are supplied with software and cables to link to your PC for printing documents and for scanning in images that you need to attach to your customers files in the database e.g. an invoice or delivery note and so faxes can be sent from the unit or PC.

For more information visit www.ezysolutions.co.uk or call 01252 783838.